Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Getting "back on the horse" can apply to so many aspects of our lives. I went skiing on Monday. It was a gorgeous day. The mountain was jammed with people as it is spring break for many across the country. I was coming down an intermediate run, and in the distance I saw a ski instructor with a very large class traversing the hill from a beginner run. I slowed up to give them time to pass. Evidently, there were some stragglers who had not been paying attention and suddenly realized that the class had left them behind. With that, one of the members of the class made a sudden turn, right in front of me. In avoiding her, I went off of the trail and flew into the trees. I knew I was going to hit hard, but luckily for me, the snow was deep, I was caught just inches from my head slamming into the tree. As it was, I had to dig myself out of a hole that was over knee deep. I must have fallen 5 more times just trying to dig myself out. I'm heading out today to get back on that proverbial horse :/

SLEEVES, SLEEVES, SLEEVES!!!

I am so very excited about a class that I will be teaching in Chicago on Saturday, April 21, 2018. It will be an entire day of drafting sleeves!!! My favorite thing :)Here's all of the information;

As you can see, you do not need to be an American Sewing Guild member to join the class, but it's a great group of ladies, so why not join? :) Supplies needed for the class;

*1 roll of white paper

*18” clear ruler

*1 black pen

*1 red pen ( a Sharpie will be fine. It just needs to have a fine point)

*Paper scissors

*Front and back bodice from a t-shirt pattern

*Sleeve from a t-shirt pattern

*scotch tape

*pins

I purchase my paper from an office supply store. It's called banner paper and it comes in a 30" wide, by 52 ft. long roll. I am a big fan of drafting with white paper as it's easy to see through when layering 1 pattern piece over another.

It's important that the t-shirt pattern be a basic pattern. You can find a great pattern at Londa's Creative Sewing. The pattern used for drafting should have the basic round neckline, and a straight sleeve. For the drafting exercises, the sleeve, as well as the front and back bodice patterns need to have all seam allowances removed, and the pattern transferred to poster board. Having a hard pattern to trace around makes all the difference in the world.

If you are interested in taking the class, you can find all of the info as well as links to the registration form HERE.

Monday, March 12, 2018

I am a Frontline junkie. For those of you who may not know, Frontline is a wonderful program that airs on the Public Broadcasting station. I find the program to be especially informative, and always interesting. Last week, I watched a piece on Harvey Weinstein. It's a piece that I think everyone should see, as it shows how important it is to speak up about abuse as well as injustice. I think that you will find that it's 55 minutes well spent.

Now, I am a week late with this post, but pretty dresses are always fun to look at :)

After the Oscar's aired last week, I decided to Google, "the best Oscar gowns of all time." It's rather interesting what popped up, and was most prominent, the gown that Joanne Woodward wore when she won Best Actress for Three Faces of Eve. And here's the best part, she made her dress!!! Not only did she make it, she also designed it. The fabric cost $100.00, and it took her 2 weeks to complete the gown. This was not about saving money as she and her husband, Paul Newman had already reached a point of being Hollywood stars.

I think she looks stunning in her gown.

Of course the gown did not go without notice. Joan Crawford made a very snide remark, "Joanne Woodward is setting Hollywood glamour back 20 years by making her own clothes."Sounds more like sour grapes to me. The best revenge for a comment like that is just to proudly raise that Academy Award ;)

No other actress has worn a gown of her own making since Joanne Woodward. In 1966, Julie Christie won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Darling. A friend made her gold dress, using a commercial pattern.

The still pictures do not do the dress justice. I found this video of her accepting her award.

I pulled out a few other gowns that were either gorgeous, or memorable.

Always lovely, Audrey Hepburn.

I love this gown worn by Marilyn Monroe.

This gown worn by Halle Berry has to be one of the best all time Oscar gowns.

Julia Roberts in a vintage Valentino gown.

While many didn't like this, I love the ease of pairing a white shirt with a gorgeous Vera Wang skirt.

Of course Cher and Bob Mackie always left us with something to talk about :)

Nicole Kidman always personifies grace. This gown was such a change in what we usually see on the red carpet.

Who could forget this gorgeous beaded gown worn by Lupita Nyong'o, designed by Calvin Klein?

And this beautifully structured gown worn by Nicole Kidman. The blue is magnificent on her.

What a dream it would be to slide in to these gowns (sigh!), but...if by chance I ever make it to the Oscar's, I will be making my own gown! Hey, ya never know, it just might happen!!!Have a fabulous day, and do a little dreaming :)Rhonda

Friday, March 9, 2018

Now this is not something you've seen from me in a while...2 blog posts in a row, WOOHOO!!!!

I had the most amazing day yesterday. It began with a note to a former exchange student who wanted my advice on some life issues. Then, I received a text message from a favorite little gal who shared with me that she had been accepted in the master's degree program that she had applied for. I decided that a return message would not do, so I gave her a call. She told me that I was one of the very first to know the news. Finally, another young woman did a lovely post on Instagram in honor of International Women's Day, talking about the amazing women who have made a difference in her life, and low and behold, my picture was in the mix. Such an honor.

It goes without saying, but I have had some very low moments over the past few months. A few weeks ago, I happened upon this scripture verse,

He gives a home to the woman who could not give birth, and makes her the mother of children.

Psalms 113:9

The verse felt like a promise, a gift, at least to me. I wrote it down in my book of quotes, and I was reminded of it yesterday. Isn't it interesting how something rather insignificant to one can mean so much to another? :)

So....my big news!!!!

I was chosen to be an ambassador for Olfa products. Amazing!!!

I was sent a gift of their brand new products, turquoise and pink cutting mats, along with a fun pink rotary cutter. The new line is called Splash. Hey, we can all use a little color and fun in our days. I'm a little partial to the turquoise mat as it is my favorite color!!!

The new rotary cutters come in 3 fun colors, pink as you see below, purple and turquoise. You can see them all HERE.

One of my favorite Olfa products is my great big 24"x36" cutting mat. I'm hoping to add the 35"x70" mat to my collection. Both mats are fabulous for cutting out larger projects.

I am not becoming a quilter, but from time to time I will do a quilting project. Although, for all of you amazing quilters out there, I can hardly call this project a quilting project. A number of years ago, I came across this great panel piece, but it was in a light mint green. I made it up and gave it to a couple of friends who were having babies. They LOVED them and used them as a way to teach the alphabet. Three friends are having babies, and I wanted to do something special. As luck would have it, I came across the same panel print, but in red. If by chance you are interested, I found it HERE on Fabric.com.

I was in Colorado and had the chance to pop into one of my favorite little stores, The Fabric Nook. You may remember the interview I did with Tina, the owner. Such a delightful lady :) Anyway, she helped me with the backing and the binding for my project. This will be my first project using my new Olfa mat and cutter.

Olfa has a wonderful new blog. You can find it HERE. Each month they will be featuring a different designer as well as a special project. If you would like to check out the list of designers and ambassadors, you can find that post HERE. I have some fun things planned, one will incorporate the airplane. Should be fun!Happy Friday!Rhonda

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Some days are just whew kinda days. We all have them, can't avoid them. My mother has been quite ill for some time now, and in the hospital for over 6 weeks. Although she is not completely out of the woods, it looks like she will be going home tomorrow. Hopefully being home, and a change of scenery will help her to make the final turn around. As with any story, there are many layers to what has happened. I also find it interesting just how deeply this has all affected me. Events that happened when I was 14, 15 years old have all come back as if they are being played out in living color. My husband has been my rock. I'll share something he told me as I think many of us need to be reminded from time to time...

You can't make sick people well

By making well people sick.

I have some exciting news to share, but rather than share it in this post, I'll do another post later today. It involves some fun new toys, and an ambassadorship. Now who would ever think of me as an ambassador???? :)